Walking It Off
by HiccupHaddockIII
Summary: Astrid Hofferson swears that this year will be perfect. Math, a car crash and a boy with brown hair changes all that. Modern AU. Hiccstrid.
1. Old Habits

**_Author's Note_**

_Hello! This is my first How To Train Your Dragon fanfiction. I would appreciate any criticism that would help me write this story better! _

_Just want to let y'all know: Hiccup and the rest are 14/15 like they are in HTTYD 1. I am also basing their personalities on what they were in the first movie. _

_Thank you! :D_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon and all its characters. Unfortunately.**_

Astrid Hofferson took a deep breath in the mirror. She wasn't nervous, not really, she just knew what her expectations were for herself.

Last year was all over the place; this year would be organized and perfect.

She would make sure of it.

Astrid grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs. With a skimpy granola bar to suffice for breakfast, she dashed out the door five minutes later than she'd like. This school wasn't as far away as her old school, so she didn't have to wake up as early, but it was more than a couple of blocks away. She wanted to give herself more than enough time to walk there just in case. She didn't want to be late for the first day.

Astrid was early.

She sat on the first step of Berk High, rolling a stone under her foot out of sheer boredom. She had 10 minutes to kill, and by the looks of it, nobody else wakes up as early as her. Oh well.

_Guess it's a habit,_ she muttered under her breath, before suddenly looking up.

There was a huge crash, skidding tires, a scream and a boy with brown hair.

Frantically, Astrid yanked her phone from her pocket and dialed 911 while rushing down the block.

x

Henry Haddock internally moaned as he laid in the hospital bed.

He screwed up. _Again_.

He really didn't understand. It was like he was cursed. Accidents followed him everywhere, like he was some kind of magnet.

He tried to sit up and open his eyes, but the room suddenly decided to be ridiculously bright and was rotating to the point where his insides wanted to come outside, so he gave up. The room was empty anyway.

His left foot was annoying him. He attempted to shift its position but then he realized that it was wrapped up in so many bandages like his life depended on them. He couldn't even feel it.

The grogginess was starting to wear off and the annoying buzzing noise left his head a bit. After a brief check-in from his father's voice, he was left alone to dwell on the incident.

Henry heard Stoick, the mayor of Berk, speaking to a doctor outside the door. He hoped his dad wasn't too mad at him.

Like, it wasn't _entirely_ his fault he got hit by a car, but technically, it was his fault after all. He was the one who wasn't paying attention. It's not he could change it anyway.

His foot was bothering him again.

_Stupid leg... _Henry muttered under his breath.

He knew his father loved him, blah blah blah, but he knew his dad saw him as a scrawny disappointment. He couldn't play any kind of sport. He didn't know when he should keep his mouth shut. He always ruined everything.

All Henry knows how to do is doodle dragons and other fictional stuff when his father rants about the football game he's being forced to watch. Or how to create weird invention things that his dad breaks his ankle on because he trips on those "god-damned pieces of garbage." Or how to play video games really loud when his dad is trying to a take a nap. Or how to-

"Hiccup. I have to to speak with you."

Stoick boomed, nodding to the nurse as to send her the message to leave.

Henry cringed at his childhood nickname. His mother had given him that nickname before she died, so Stoick always used it, except when he was yelling at Henry. So, if he was calling him "Hiccup" does that means he's not mad at him?

"Uh yeah, sure, Dad. What's the matter?"

"Son. What do you remember about the crash?"

Henry hesitated. He wasn't so eager to spill the beans that it was his fault.

"Well, uh, I was walking, um, to school, but I was, yeah, not, uh... " He trailed off uncertainly.

"Get on with it." Stoick ordered.

"Okay, well, I wasn't paying attention, I was texting Francis, and the light was green for the cars but I kinda still crossed the street. Then there was a crash." Henry said uneasily.

There was also some blonde girl hovering over him while jabbering on her phone, but he's not sure if that was real, due to the fact his head had probably taken a hit.

Stoick seemed unfazed by this information, as though he expected such an answer. Though, he looked awkward when he asked the next question. "Have you, er, felt anything in your left leg?"

Hiccup knew it. He broke his leg or something and his dad was pissed that this would be the second time he broke it. He couldn't lie about this one.

"Uhh... yeah it doesn't really hurt, it just feels weird..."

Stoick cleared his throat and sat down on the bed. "Hiccup..."

He took a deep breath cautiously.

"Your leg was so badly damaged by the hit that the doctors were... er... unable to save it."

Henry Haddock's heart stopped.

x

Astrid hated math.

It was so pointless, and it never made sense. Everything about math was black and white, but reality isn't like that. And honestly, after schools over, it won't matter anymore.

She glanced over at the clock, ticking halfway across the room. Two minutes left. Thank gods.

The boy from that morning entered her mind. Once the ambulance had arrived, Astrid snuck away back to school. She didn't want to be involved or asked questions since she witnessed it. She'd rather be left alone. The boy had to be okay, so it didn't matter.

The bell interrupted her thoughts.

"Okay, class dismissed. We had a great start to the year. And Francis," the teacher shot a blonde boy with a stern look, "Don't forget what room your math class is in."

Astrid didn't stay to hear what he said in response. She wanted to get out of here and forget school even existed. She scurried to her locker and put her math books away.

"Thank gods there was no homework today..." Astrid commented quietly to herself before heading out the two front doors.

She walked down the block, to the very spot the boy was hit today.

_He could've died if I wasn't there... _Astrid mused.

At least somebody benefited from her old habits...

**_Author's Note_**

_Thank you for giving my story a chance! The next chapter will be better. This one was eh. See you then! :)_


	2. Footsteps

**_Author's Note_**

_I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, veiwed, or reviewed! Thank you so much! _

_Okay, here's Chapter 2. Hope you enjoy it!_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon and all its characters. **_

The doctor was rambling on and on about stuff he'd heard about seven thousand times since he stepped a foot in this place.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, no problem." He nodded, not really paying attention.

Henry, better known as Hiccup, hobbled out of the hospital for the last time (finally!) in his life (he prayed). His prosthetic was okay. Hiccup really didn't know if it settled in that he was an amputee.

He got the hang of the prosthesic. But of course he did, he was trapped in this place for more than three weeks for extremely-quick physical therapy. He was more than happy to get out of there as soon as possible, but his stupid foot was slowing him down.

Stoick thanked the doctor one last time before helping his son down the stairs.

"Which genius puts stairs in front of a hospital..." Stoick muttered to himself. "What happened to ramps?"

Hiccup took this as an opportunity to start a conversation.

"I don't know, well, you're the mayor right? You stare everyone down, so I guess just... um, yeah."

(Hiccup knew it was an awful, horrible joke, but cut him some slack, he had about 1.2547 seconds to come up with it.)

Stoick didn't answer. He was lost in his thoughts.

The first time the abnormally-large brute of a man walked up these steps was probably the most stressful time he'd ever had in his lifetime, and that was something to say, considering the fact that he was the mayor of the ENTIRE town of Berk. Although, if you took into account that he had been carrying his wife-who-had-begun-labor-while-in-the-car, it was only natural that he would be totally terrified that he_ wouldn't make it there in time_ and that_ his son would have been born in the hospital hallway..._

Valka, the absolute love of his life and soul-mate, died 5 months after Hiccup was born. Stoick missed her more than anything. Ever since that awful day, he constantly begged and wished to every god up in Valhalla that it was just a nightmare and that he'd wake up soon, with her by his side in the morning; that she was still here with him and Hiccup, completing their family. It definitely didn't help that his son took after her more than him; more than he'd like to admit, and he constantly found himself reminiscing of her because of this. But he had always been a tough and practical man, and knew of the brutally harsh reality. He knew that he couldn't just let go of his duties because _everyone was counting on him to be mayor_, even though he still felt so utterly _dead_ inside, and had no clue on how to parent his son that they together had dreamed about having _all by himself, without her for the rest of his and Hiccup's lives_...

But, eventually, with the help and support of his lifelong best friend Gobber, a few couple tankards of mead, and a whole month of grieving her absence, he picked himself up and got back to work.

With a sigh that sounded like it contained the weariness of centuries-old-men, Stoick helped Hiccup into the car, walked around it, and opened the door to the drivers seat.

"I'm going on a business trip next week. Do you think you'll be okay home alone?"

Hiccup nodded his head. "I'll manage."

"Good." Stoick buckled himself in. (New record: Only two minutes!)

The rest of the car ride was silent.

x

"Shoot."

Astrid was starving, she didn't have dinner last night. She was studying for that math test she had today.

It was so annoying and stupid. She just didn't get graphs and equations. It was all foreign to her. Her average grade was an 81% and with only being three weeks into the first term, it was absolutely unacceptable.

She just couldn't understand. Math was the only subject she had trouble in. Plus, she needed at least an 85% to make the swim team. Gobber, the PE teacher, didn't just let anyone in.

She could hear Gobber's accent scolding her, _You gotta 'ave the grades an' the speed! If you don't 'ave time to study, you don't 'ave time to swim. _

The tryouts were today, and she was looking forward to this day ever since she heard about them. She knew she needed some kind of structure in her life, some kind of sport. But she didn't want to do some sport where there's teamwork and sportsmanship and stuff like that. Astrid knew she can't trust people.

And there was no food at all that was related to breakfast in the house and she needed her energy to swim today. She settled with the thought that she could stop by the drug store on the way and pick up something simple.

Astrid headed out the door, feeling the September chill settle in.

Knowing they'll be no food i n the house unless she gets it, (the last time her mom made a grocery run was two years ago, and she won't start now) she'll have to sort into her mother's wallet, get, maybe, $30 and stock up on food. Honestly, she needs to eat.

Because of the quick stop, she reached school two minutes after the early bell, which means she could still go in and have extra time to study before homeroom.

The hallway was mostly quiet, due to the fact that everyone who was there, which was not a lot, was talking in lowered voices.

Astrid climbed one more flight of steps and made her way to her homeroom, waving at a classmate on the way in.

Setting her backpack down on her desk, Astrid sighed as she plopped down in her chair and gave herself a pep talk.

_Okay, Astrid. You're going to ace this test and then you're going to make the team. And then everything will be perfect._

Everything came down to this stupid test. This is all math's fault.

She reluctantly yanked her math textbook out of her backpack and some graph paper.

She can do this, she can draw a couple of stupid lines, with stupid numbers and stupid, pointless figures.

Astrid set her pencil on the graph paper and didn't look up until the homeroom bell rang.

x

Hiccup was finally going back to school.

Don't get him wrong; he hates school just as much as the average kid. But school equals normality, which was what Hiccup has always strived to be.

Without success.

He didn't know what to expect. One half of him thought nobody would stare at his leg, because

1) Nobody except Fishlegs cared about him, so why would anybody else care if he lost a limb?

2) His pants was long enough to cover his prosthetic. (He made sure of that)

3) He never made it to the first day of school anyway, so it wouldn't look like an absence, only like a late arrival to the term.

Buuuut, he also thought people would stare because:

1) People always found a way to make him feel awkward.

2) He lost his foot (and his leg from the knee down)

3) He lost his leg

4) He freaking lost his leg

5) Enough said

So, honestly, Hiccup didn't know what to think.

He couldn't remember a time that he had hoped so bad to be invisible.

The car swerved and stopped at double park in front of the school.

"Have a good day, Hiccup. Don't worry, you'll be fine with the prosthetic." Stoick said gruffly.

"Yeah, thanks dad. I hope so." Hiccup said before slamming the car door shut. (His dad's car doors were stubborn; you had to slam the door really hard in order for them to click. Hiccup often jokes to himself that the car takes after its owner)

As if high school wasn't scary enough, he gets to start his first day halfway through the semester and without 1/2 of his leg.

_Typical for me, _Hiccup noticed, annoyed.

"Hey Hiccup! How are you doing? How's the leg? Can I see it?" A familiar blonde boy jumped up when he saw him.

Great. Despite Fishlegs being on the football team, he was a geek by heart. Doesn't he understand that um, he doesn't want to show his prosthetic to the world? Some people were watching them now.

"Hey um...Hiccup? I'm really sorry..." Fishlegs broke eye contact.

"I'm the reason you got hit, I shouldn't have been texting you... I'm really sorry! Please don't hate me... I'm really really sorry about your, uh, leg."

He glanced at his left leg shamefully.

"Yeah, Fish, I'm all right. It's not your fault, don't be an idiot. Er... Do you mind if we go inside and talk? I'm cold."

"It's September, Hiccup. And you're wearing a really warm North Face jacket."

"Yeah. I know." Hiccup awkwardly shuffled his feet to the doors.

Fishlegs and Hiccup made their way into the doors, Fishlegs leading the way to their homeroom.

"Soooo..." He started as he slung his backpack into a desk and reminded himself he'll be here for the next 4 years.

x

"Oh, yeah, my parents. My mom's outside in the car with my baby brother. He's sleeping and there wasn't any parking spaces, so she sent me to pay. I can run out with the paper though, and make her sign it."

Astrid glanced up at the cashier innocently, but casually.

She smiled and nodded in response, so Astrid flashed a smile of gratitude back and dashed outside to make her way to the so-called car in which her mom was supposed to waiting in.

She doesn't usually use the credit cards but she couldn't find any cash in the house, and she needs to eat. She hates puting herself at risk, making up stories and manipulating people, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Astrid scrawled _Jean Hofferson_ on the recipet, crouched behind a car just in case the cashier was watching. That happened to her once, and she wasn't making the same mistake again.

x

"I'm home!" Astrid called out into the house while setting the bags on the table.

Astrid's mother laid on the couch, bagel in one hand, remote in the other.

"Hey Astrid. How was school today?"

Astrid started to make her way upstairs so she could do her homework in peace, but she stopped when her mother spoke. Her mom was weak; she was an emotional wreck after her dad left. She never quite recovered, but Astrid knew she loved her. Even if she wasn't trying to be strong for Astrid. But she was trying to show she cared about her.

"It was good. I tried out for the swim team today."

Her mom widened her eyes in surprise and pride.

"That's wonderful!"

"Yeah." Astrid shrugged. It's not like she's planning on following her mom's footsteps.

**_Author's Note_**

_Hope you liked it! I will be posting Chapter 3 soon. Happy New Year's in advance! 3 _


	3. Until Next Week

_**Author's Notes**_

_Hi guys! I just want to clarify that Francis is Fishlegs' real name. "Fishlegs" is his nickname that his friends call him. Sorry if I confused anyone :) _

_And now, Chapter 3!_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon and all its characters. **_

Astrid Hofferson moaned as she dropped her dead-weight backpack on the floor.

She couldn't believe herself.

A 73? What did she do?

How could she do this?

She slumped in a chair by the table.

She knew she was having trouble with math, but she assumed it would've worked out.

Would she still be able to be on the swim team?

This ruins _everything. _

She felt so unsettled and her fingers drummed the table unpatiently. She had to do something about this.

With a grunt, she yanked out her 7,986 pound math textbook.

Astrid had to fix this. She always did.

x

The bell rang and Astrid collected her books but didn't rush out of class like she usually did. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked confidently to the teacher's desk.

"Hello, Astrid. How can I help you?"

Mrs. Duncan peered at her over her glasses and looked mildly amused at the sight.

Astrid stood up straighter and cleared her throat.

"Hello, Mrs. Duncan. As you probably know, I didn't do my best on my last test and... "

"... You want to raise your grade?"

Gods, she's creepy.

"Uh, yeah." She let her slipping backpack strap fall off her shoulder onto the floor.

_Stop it, Astrid, don't make yourself grovel. Don't stutter, what's wrong with you?!_

"Well..." Mrs. Duncan stood up to grab her coffee sitting on the desk in the first row. "I don't do any extra help or personal tutoring because I don't baby my students. But I've asked some of my brightest ones..." She paused to give a look to Astrid as to tell her that it didn't include her, "...to tutor some of their struggling peers. They meet after school here, on Fridays. You may come until four."

She picked up her books and walked until she paused at the door and drawled her farewell.

"That's all I can offer you, Astrid. I hope that will help you. Good luck."

And with that, she left.

Astrid fumed and violently slung her backpack over her shoulder. She hated that old hag, she thought she knew everything, _that_ _stupid, old, good for nothing son of a half troll, rat-eating munge buc-_

Astrid had begun to storm out of the room, preparing to destroy the next human soul she saw, (in the words of Hiccup Haddock) and succeeded when she slammed right into him.

x

Hiccup awkwardly scratched the back of his head after receiving a death look from a very annoyed Astrid Hofferson.

He was _sort of _(He's not _that _hopelessly in love) hoping for a black eye or a broken arm, but all the mighty Astrid Hofferson gave him was a look.

Hiccuo made a mental note:

_Status: A Nobody_

Okay, here's the truth: Hiccup was easedropping. He had plastered himself to the wall right outside of the classroom, until Mrs. Duncan walked out, but she went the other way so she didn't notice him. He started to try to get out of there before Astrid came out, but she stormed out of there like a madman (actually mad_woman, _which Hiccup, personally, thinks is _much, much _worse_), _and Hiccup had the honor of getting the full blast of it.

Because of what, again?

_Oh yeah, _he reminded himself of the excuse he gave himself when he made this amazing desicison (like he always does), _he was curious. _

And curiousity killed the cat.

(_Though, no matter how many times his cat, Toothless, has gotten into trouble, he has always managed to make it out unscathed_, Hiccup noticed jealously)

What can he say? He loves math, his life long crush doesn't. He's in the tutor club, his life long crush needs tutoring. Is there a better clichè love story?

_Well, _Hiccup thought to himself, _perhaps falling into your crush is better than falling in love?_

As he has had first hand experience, he's pretty sure the first choice is better.

x

_September 19, 2014_

Astrid etched the date deep in the paper with controlled rage. First, that hag disgraced her by making her come to this thing, and then paired her up with that kid she slammed into this week.

_And every freaking time she speaks, it's always with a sneer like she knows something I don't, I'm going to shove her off her high horse someda-_

"Uh... Astrid? You there?"

She shifted her glare on the paper to the boy. Is he always so naturally annoying?

"Okay, look. I don't care about you. I don't want to talk to you. You just tell me what I got to do to get an A and I'm out of here. Okay?"

Astrid glared harder at him to reinforce her point. She honestly couldn't care less, but he sounds like he can be seriously _annoying. _

He uneasily ran his fingers through his hair. "Um... well sure. My name's Hiccu- it's Henry. If you care."

"Whatever. Tell me what to do for the homework today."

Astrid glanced at the clock. 43 minutes left of torture.

_You're only doing this because it's necessary, s_he reminded herself.

"Okay well..." Henry or whatever his name was cleared his throat, "When you make the graph, you gotta label the axis. That's really important to remember. So... yeah." he trailed off.

She felt his eyes on her as she wrote a _y_ and an _x _next to the arrows of the graph.

"Good. Uh... okay well, you know how to plot the figure, I assume?"

She glanced up at him annoyedly.

_Does he seriously think I'm that stupid..._

"Excuse me, do I look that stupid? Of course I can."

"Right," he stuttered.

Sighing, Astrid returned to her work and plotted the figure onto the paper.

"Now what?"

Hiccup cautiously edged the pencil out of her hands, and into his, then wrote:

_A= (-3,5) = F(A) (-5,-3)_

_B= (1,5) = F(B) (-5,1)_

_C= (-3,2) = F(C) (-2,-3)_

_D= (1,2) = F(D) (-2,1)_

"You have to switch the two points, then make the first number the opposite, so..."

He carefully worked it out on the graph. Astrid watched.

x

Hiccup was freaking out.

She was less than one foot away from him, and despite the fact she was absorbed in her work, _she was next to him and it wasn't because she was hurting him. _

A new record.

He really shouldn't be thinking about this, this is math club, and he should be focused on math.

_But she's Astrid Hofferson, _his mind whined.

_Shut up, _he scolded himself.

"... and then you just keep doing that for each rotation?... Are you even listening to me?"

A very annoyed Astrid Hofferson had finally looked up at him. She was twirling the pencil around in her hands, explaining what she understood and he had zoned out. Wow, he really wanted to get on her bad side.

"Uhh... yeah. That's exactly what you do."

He hoped whatever she said was right because he wasn't going to go and ask her what she said to verify it.

She stole one last glance of suspicion at him, and then leaned over to return to continue rotating the square.

Her hair was pulled back into a braid, as usual, and her bangs hung loose over her face.

_She's gorgeous, _his mind informed him.

_If you don't shut up right now, I'll smash you to pieces,_ he threatened himself.

He blushed when he looked over at her. He was right. She _was_ beautiful.

(Hiccup sometimes has one of these amazing bursts of confidence, which then recedes, usually leading into awkward, embarrassing situations. Here is one of his favorite examples.)

"You're pretty." Hiccup blurted out suddenly.

Astrid looked up at him sharply.

"Excuse me?"

x

The boy mumbled something containing the word _pretty _and there were so many things wrong with that.

First, she was here for an A, not for something that could sidetrack her and waste her time.

Second, that Snot-something boy hadn't stopped hitting on her since she landed a foot in this school, and she had absolutely no patience for anyone who dared to attempt, well, _anything_.

Astrid glared at him and replied with venom, "Excuse me?"

"Ah, uh, noth-nothing, it-it was nothing, ne-nevermind, gah, I'm sorry.."

He spluttered and avoided eye contact.

_Coward, _she mused.

"It didn't seem like nothing."

Astrid replied easily with raised eyebrows.

She _knew_, basically anyway. She just wanted to see if he dared to repeat it.

"Agh! Nevermind!" He bit the inside of his lip, like a form of punishment.

_So he's embarrassed._

Astrid opened her mouth to reply when Mrs. Duncan clapped her hands officially and told them to go home.

As she was collecting her stuff, she noticed Hiccup was about to slip away.

She couldn't let that happen. After throwing her coat on, she slung her backpack over her shoulder. With a reluctant forced nod at the teacher, she hurried after him outside. The cold air bit at her face and she wished she had a scarf. Oh well.

He had the nerve to not listen to her, and then to try to run away.

_Good luck with that, _she laughed to herself.

"Aaand... where do you think you're going?" She said as she yanked him back by his hood.

Hiccup turned around, ran his fingers through his hair and squeaked "Home?"

"Well..." Astrid smirked, "Before you go, why don't you tell me what you said that you're so insistent on _not _telling me?"

She held her ground. This is stupid, she's wasting her time, this isn't her at all. But... she felt like she _had _to know. This boy... he made her want to stop the world and make him listen to her.

But he wouldn't.

Hiccup widened his eyes, mumbled some incoherent words before running off. Though, this time she didn't follow him, though she had a strange notion to.

Astrid just let it go.

Well, at least until next week.

_**Author's Note**_

_Ha! Mrs. Duncan is loosely based off of my old science teacher who was absolutely evil. I'm sure we all have that teacher in our lives, so you can all relate to Astrid. :D_

_And I can't believe how many reviews, favorites and follows I got! You guys are amazing! Thanks :) R&R!_


	4. A Little More Than 8 Minutes

**_Author's Note_**

_Hey guys! Thanks so much for all reviews, follows and faves! And now... Chapter 4! Full of messy high school boys, sassy and manipulative cats, math confusion and unforgettable green eyes. Here we go! :D_

_**Disclaimer: I'd be a rich little writer if I owned How To Train Your Dragon and all its characters, but I don't. :(**_

He was an idiot.

Always causing problems, always running away from them.

Hiccup always knew he was an idiot, but he never knew he could really have been _that stupid enough to tell Astrid Hofferson she's pretty. _

He could take pride on his apparent confidence, but he really knows it's just impulsive stupidity.

And... Astrid's beauty. And confidence. And her fierce attitude and-

_Aah, _he had to pull himself together, _No more Astrid Hofferson._

Well, he was going to see her next Friday, which was really bad.

_A whole hour, _he groaned.

Maybe he could just not show up?

_Well, this is Astrid's grade we are talking about, don't want to ruin her because you can't control yourself._

He had a point.

Besides, he thought he was past running away.

_Ah, _his mind contradicted, _But not showing up isn't the same as running away, right?_

Hiccup nudged a whiny Toothless away, taking his frustration out on the cat, before replying (to himself), _Idiot, literally! Not showing up is 'running away' from my problem!_

"Devil's advocate..." He accused with a grunt.

Hiccup also declared himself officially werid.

Like, who _talks to himself _and blames his _infernal_ thoughts _on something else when that 'something else' is actually him?_

Honestly, he's way past striving to be normal.

He just wants to sane, okay?

Toothless purred with pretend sympathy and snuggled near Hiccup.

"Seriously, Toothless? You just had dinner, you are not getting any more Kenny's Kibbles, okay?"

Toothless was a stubborn little thing, so he whined and used his adorable charm to try to convince his owner.

"Toothless! You don't even like me. You torture me, you just _whine_ all the time for food, you're so selfish and... Are you even listening?"

Toothless ignored Hiccup, as usual. (Toothless knows he's awesome. Haters gonna hate.) He just continued to purr and prance over Hiccup's textbooks.

And finally... the adorable-eyes-like-I'm-abandoned-and-abused-by-my-owner-please-help-me trick.

A little stare contest went down, but it was obvious who won.

"Gah! Works every time..."

Hiccup glared at the cat, then eased off his bed, grabbed his prosthetic and attached it to his, uh, _stump. _

Holding on to the railing, he _thump-tha-thumped _down the stairs with his clunky metal leg and a cat trailing victoriously behind.

He made his way to the kitchen, yanking the bag out of the closet with a scowl. Toothless was curled up on the floor all innocently, like he never manipulated Hiccup to get food. Hiccup was about to pretend to kick the little scoundrel, (that often keeps Toothless in line) when-

_Click-click_

_Keys..._

_Shoot! _Hiccup screamed interally. He gave himself about 5 seconds to clean up a house that took a week to get to this point, when Stoick (The Vast, Hiccup often takes the liberty to add) came through the door.

"Uhhh... hi dad... the trip was okay?"

"Yes, son. How were you this week with it?" He nodded vaguely at Hiccup's leg, but he knew what his father meant.

"It was, uh, good. Well, I mean, it wasn't good, I hate it, but yeah... I sort of got the hang of it, kind of, depends, really," Hiccup watched his dad hang up his coat, "Stairs are still pretty challenging, especially at school, just, you know, well you actually don't know, you never lost a limb." Hiccup gave his trademark lopsided smile.

"Well," Stoick ruffled Hiccup's hair _(What, is he three or something? Ugh. Awkward son/father moments)_,totally ignoring the potential humor, "glad to see your adjusting."

There was an awkward silence, once again reminding the both of them that they had nothing to talk about.

Hiccup scooped up Toothless (oblivious to the saddened eyes of a very hungry cat as he stuffed the food back into the closet) the second his father turned his back.

_I gotta get out of here, I gotta get out of here, I gotta get out of here, I gotta get-_

_"_Hiccup! Why are your things, inventions, whatever they are, all over the house!" Stoick bellowed from the living room.

"Is that your gym bag? And... cat food?! How many times do I have to tell you, keep that cat in your room! Potato chips, sweatshirts... Hiccup!?"

Hiccup gulped.

Ah, shoot, he's caught.

x

"Astrid. Come 'ere."

She turned around and opened her mouth in protest.

"I'll do better, I swear. I'm getting help in math. My grade will go up. Just don't take me off the team."

Surprisingly, Gobber laughed.

"If I take 'ou off tha team, I ruin tha whole chance ou' team got! I just want to make sure you're tryin' to get better.", He paused, then said in a low voice,"I'm makin' an exception fo' yeh. Don't disappoint me."

Astrid set her head in a quick nod, and he was off.

She made the team. Her speed was the quickest, which made her captain. But she knew that math grade would be lurking around the corner.

But, she was taking care of it.

Her thoughts drifted back to that Friday while she packed her bag.

_That boy. _

She'd been thinking about him a bit more than she'd like. Hiccup- he _stuck. _He just stuck his stupid life into hers, and all she wanted was help in math.

_Well, _Astrid vowed, _I'll set him straight and make him stop being so..._

Her vocabulary failed her. She doesn't even _know _him, for Thor's sake, and he's just so... different.

She pushed through the front doors and headed home.

Astrid doesn't really care about what he mumbled anymore. It's how he reacted. Most people would just cower and do what she wants, and he just, well, ran away.

Was he scared of her?

_Stop it, Astrid. You have a life to be focused on. Forget him, whatever, just think about the next math test. _

x

"Uh, hey. Um... sorry about being l-late."

_Stop mumbling, idiot, you'll ruin any chance, _his thoughts hissed.

"It's fine." she says almost too nicely, shuffling papers around the desk, but without eye contact.

Hiccup tentatively set his backpack on the floor, sat down and stared at his _foot_ while waiting for her take a paper out of her folder.

"You have exactly 8 minutes to explain. I'm not wasting any more time on this, but you're not getting away with it."

_Ah, shoot._

His instincts told him to play dumb, it wastes time, that should work...

"Um, I ha-have no idea what you're, uh, talking about, um, Astrid. Do you mean the, uh, math problem?"

Suddenly, she whipped around and stared at him with her (stern) crystal blue eyes.

"Seriously, Hiccup. I want to be done with this. Tell me the truth."

x

The truth.

Astrid wanted the truth.

She wanted to know why he was so different, why did she think about him even though they only met last week, why did she start _noticing _him everywhere, why did she find herself avoiding him, why was he so confusing-

_He's my stupid math tutor. But why does he create problems instead of helping me solve them?_

But she would die before she actually asked all those things.

"Oh gods, I knew this would come back... I'm cursed..." Hiccup mumbled and looked down.

Why did he always avoid eye contact?

_Add that to the list._

Astrid glanced at her watch. 5 minutes left. She had to get him to talk. Now, that's when her good old friend _violence_ comes in...

"Gods, Hiccup! What's so hard? Seriously! Just spit it out before I-" She was cut off by a glare from Mrs. Duncan before continuing in a whisper that was just as threatening,"Before I kick your sorry excuse for a leg."

Only because that's the only thing she can get away with in a math classroom.

_Thank Thor for desks, _she laughed internally.

x

Hiccup saw an opportunity for humor.

He was good at that, right?

"Haha... you got that right. I do have a lousy leg..." He laughed weakly and tried to sound casual about it, "I don't have a left leg. It's a metal prothesic now. Lost it in a car crash about a month ago."

Her face changed from vicious to dumbfounded the second he said _car crash._

He knew that was going too far. You don't tell people awkward personal stuff like that after the second time you see them. Now she's _really_ going to think he's weird.

Great, just great.

x

"... car crash about a month ago."

Car crash? Last month?

Her thoughts whipped back to the first day of school.

It was a boy.

With auburn hair.

_With a nasty looking leg. _

Astrid could hear herself on the phone that day from her thoughts, "... his leg is hurt really bad..."

She thought he'd be okay-

"Wait... Last month, you're sure?"

"Astrid," He deadpanned, "You think I'm so incapable, I'd forget the life-changing day I lost my leg? Anyway, why does it matter?"

Astrid glanced at the clock, it was way past 8 minutes now.

Screw math, she was getting to the bottom of this.

"I was there, I called 911 for you," She examined his unforgettable green eyes, "Oh my gods, _it was _you..."

**_Author's Note_**

_Yay! Cliffhanger! Finally, Astrid reconizes Hiccup :D Remember to be awesome and drop a review. See you guys next chapter!_


	5. Astrid Beats Up Snotlout

_**Author's Note**_

_Hello, everybody! Chapter 5! Caution: Astrid gets in a fight! (It's rather one-sided; we all know who's victorious)_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned How To Train Your Dragon and all its characters, I would create a HTTYD theme park, but unfortunately, I don't. **_

Hiccup just stared at her.

"Wa-wait, you were that blonde girl that was..." He paused,"on her phone?"

The connection finally dawned on him.

(Pun intended)

Then Hiccup realized Astrid was _smiling. _

It wasn't a sterotypical beautiful smile. It was faint, hovering around the corners of her mouth. Almost as if she were trying to sustain it, holding it for a while before returning to her, well, _Astrid_ face.

Hiccup officially declared it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

Then he realized he should probably say something.

"So... um, thanks. Yeah, uh, thanks. You, uh, kind of saved my life..." He looked briefly in her eyes.

"No problem. I just... I wonder why I never," Her sharp blue eyes drifted up into his green ones,"noticed it was you before today."

And on some level, he's happy he lost his leg.

•••

"Okay, class. Hand back the papers and begin."

Astrid was in the third row, the first two people taking their time.

_Just hurry up all ready, _she seethed.

Astrid made sure to glare at the gum-chewing blonde who lazily dropped the last two papers on her desk.

Astrid separated them, and passed the last one to Hiccup, who shot her an encouraging but rather lopsided smile.

She nodded and gave him a half-hearted smile back.

Glancing at the first problem, then the 19 problems after it, her mind started to panic.

Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that she always had herself under control. Leave it to math to change that.

Before she knew it, she got through all the problems and handed her paper in exactly 30 whole seconds before she had to.

Astrid also made sure to give Mrs. Duncan a satisfying, victorious smile.

•••

The bell rang.

Hiccup glared at the papers lying innocently on the floor.

That's the _third _time they fell.

He considered leaving them there in a form of a lesson, but then he reasoned that was pretty immature.

So he gave in.

_That's the last time, _he dug his hands deep in the paper as he clutched them.

Then he realized the room was quiet.

There was nobody there, not even the teacher.

He was really that late? He's always the last one to leave class.

Frowning at the queer silence, he finished packing his backpack and made wonderful plans of food when he got home.

And then...

His dreams where destroyed the minute he found his face on the floor.

_Offff course, _he groaned, preparing for the same routine Snotlout used every time he wants to beat up Hiccup.

Hiccup sat up, rubbing his head, and looked up at the much larger boy.

"Uh... hey... my favorite cousin..." Hiccup tilting his head on the side, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

_Snotlout _(Ugh, why did he want that nickname anyway?) grinned and proclaimed,"Oh, I know I'm everyone's favorite person", totally losing the sarcasm,"But you're not mine!"

Hiccup stared at him strangely, then made motions of leaving, until Snotlout yanked him back from the shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet. I heard you lost your right leg in that car crash. My father told me."

_Thanks dad, for having such a close relationship with your brother..._

Why did his dad tell him? No, why did his uncle tell Snotlout? Is everyone blind? That's like giving a kid candy on Halloween.

"Um, no, I didn't."

"Oh yes you did! I know you did!" Snotlout proclaimed loudly.

Soon, their little scuffle in the corner had expanded into the whole hallway.

Great. Duh duh duh, he's dead. This ruins his whole plan to not let the whole school know.

"Um, no I di-"

"Then let's see it." Snotlout sneered in his face.

Right leg. He said right leg. _He said the right leg. _

Hiccup cautiously lifted the bottom of his pants on his right leg, revealing a _absolutely horrifying _sock and some _flesh _under it.

Snotlout looked confused for a second before resuming his ever-present arroganance.

"You're lying. My father said-", He cut himself off for a minute, trying to remember _exactly_ what his father said,"He said right. Why don't I-"

A smile grew on the boy's face.

"Why don't I kick it to make sure it's actually your foot?"

A ripple of ooo's ran through the obviously enthralled and entertained crowd. (A little too much for Hiccup's taste)

"Snotlout, that's stupid, I _just showed you _my leg was there, skin, bone and everything. Okay?" Hiccup glanced around at the kids snickering while they slammed their lockers.

Hiccup knew where this was going. Snotlout made up a stupid excuse to hurt him, and then he limps home. End of story.

"Just let me... go home, okay?" he mumbled.

Snotlout laughed along with a few of his stupid friends and then gave Hiccup a hard kick.

Hiccup grasped his calf and moaned, collapsing on the floor. Pain shot through his leg, and then-

_Wham!_

"Oww, oh my gods, are you-" Snotlout whined all of a sudden.

Hiccup glanced up and suddenly a blonde- no that's-

That's _Astrid Hofferson. _

_Beating up Snotlout Jorgeson._

She had that fiery look in her eye and didn't stop until Snotlout pleaded and finally put his hands up in surrender when he hit the floor.

"Babe, wha-what's the matter..."

Her voice emotionless and cold, she said quite clearly, "Don't call me 'babe' ever again. And don't you ever hurt him again."

Hiccup still sat on the floor, mouth hanging slightly open.

Astrid whipped away from Snotlout and faced him.

She glanced at Hiccup, then nodded, backing away from a silent and gaping hallway, almost slamming into-

The principal stood at the doorframe of the way to the stairs, crossing his arms.

•••

That was it.

She'd spent the last 5 minutes watching him get bullied, standing in the back of the room, watching the whole thing like a ghost, not doing anything to help.

It occurred to her she was probably one of the few who knew he lost his leg, and it was obvious he was uncomfortable with it.

At first, it was natural instinct for her to ignore the kids who get bullied. Everyone's got it hard, why are they any different? She has her own life to worry about and focus on.

But he was _different_.

She watched and it felt all wrong, and it made her sick, and then-

Then he kicked him.

And that was the final straw.

Astrid pushed her way from behind the cluttered hallway, sending a few questioning looks with glares.

Then she punched him, cutting off a 'babe', and gods, it felt so good. She's been wanting to that since he first starting hitting on her.

Snotlout looked so surprised, and she just couldn't stop. A punch was usually enough to shut up a person, but she didn't just want him to shut up. Astrid needed him to _stop. _

And then, while Snotlout was groaning like a baby, the hallway quieted down and all eyes were on her.

"Don't call me 'babe' ever again. And don't you ever hurt him again."

There. She said it. She's made her point.

Then Astrid felt a wave of embarassment.

Hiccup was gaping at her.

Astrid reasoned she did enough for the day, and started to head out when-

The principal.

Cold, angry eyes.

And then, she knew she absolutely _messed up everything. _

**_Author's Note_**

_And... Astrid beats up Snotlout, with some consequences. I really liked writing this chapter, it was so much fun to see Hiccup get justice due to his new aquaintance (which we can definitely see with plain eyes that that won't be for so long ;D) with a very fierce and capable girl. Remember to drop a review and let me know what you think! See you next chapter! :)_


	6. Impossible To Forget

**_Authors Note_**

_Hey! I want to give a shoutout to all my guest reviewers! Even though I can't respond, I really appriciate your comments. :) Also, to BonniePride who leaves the longest reviews that make me smile :D And now, chapter 6!_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or its characters but if I did Hiccup and Astrid would've been married with 3 kids by the second movie, whoops ;D**_

Astrid, Hiccup and Snotlout sat silently outside the principal's office.

"I just phoned your parents. I informed them of the incident and that you should be picked up in the next ten to fifteen minutes." He gestured to the stairs,"You may go get your coats and backpacks."

Hiccup sat stiffly in the chair before reluctantly getting up after the other two. His father probably was leaving a meeting or something important right now all because of him.

He wouldn't be happy.

Unless, of course, he didn't care about what was going on and assumed Hiccup would just walk home like he usually does...

Astrid took the lead, walking straight ahead of Snotlout and him. She hadn't looked at him once through the whole ordeal, when the three of them had to sit and explain everything for half an hour. He felt really bad. She stood up for him, she shouldn't have. Now she got kicked off the swim team temporarily.

Hiccup knew how much that meant to her.

Of course, he always ruined everything for everyone.

He really wanted to apologize, but she wouldn't give him the chance. Maybe she was mad at him.

He wouldn't blame her.

The silence oddly comforting, he grabbed his stuff from where it was abandoned in the hallway and glanced thoughtfully at the now mostly empty hallway.

_Was that really today?_

It felt so long ago.

•••

Astrid quietly opened her locker.

She should've done this earlier. She should've gotten her stuff earlier and went home. She should've never stayed and watched.

Astrid was so annoyed; she wasted enough time here. She wanted to get out, and just leave all her problems where they started: in school.

Snotlout had just passed through the hallway and went up another flight of stairs, because his stuff was still in his homeroom while theirs were on this floor.

It finally registered she was alone with him, except for the quiet shuffle of rummaging books.

Astrid didn't know how to feel about him. She was avoiding him because she didn't know what to say or act like.

She just didn't know anything, especially when it came to _him _and gods, she hates being dumb like this. Astrid just understood one thing: _No swimming until next month due to your unacceptable behavior. _

This never happened, she never got in trouble.

She was Astrid Hofferson; she was always perfect.

So who's fault is it?

Hiccup was the reason, after all, but he wasn't, because it wasn't his fault he was bullied.

Then, she would say, it's Snotlout's fault. But again, he didn't force Astrid to run up and start beating him up.

So, it was her fault?

But her actions were reflecting her feelings, which were there because of Hiccup.

It always comes back to Hiccup.

•••

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder nervously.

He had to talk to her.

"Uh, um, Astrid?"

It came out as a mumbled whisper but the hallway was obviously quiet enough.

"Yeah?"

"Um..."

He didn't actually have a topic of conversation on his mind, he'd assumed Astrid would take control... he really didn't want to talk about, _well, you know, _but he was trying to stop running away from things...

_So. Here goes nothing._

"I'm sorry, uh, for, like, making you-"

Astrid turned around and sighed.

"It's not your fault, Hiccup. It was mine, I have to take responsibility for my actions," Astrid replied, quoting the principal's words,"I guess I just couldn't stand the sight of you getting hurt like that-"

Sharp footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

_Snotlout's back! My favorite person in the world, _Hiccup rolled his eyes sarcastically towards the stairwell.

Astrid gave him a we-will-talk-about-this-later-really-don't-feel-like-disscusing-in-front-of-Snotlout-if-you-know-what-I-mean look.

Well, it was mostly a sharp, final nod but you know Hiccup, _always making things complicated. _

Hiccup watched Snotlout stride right past them, chest puffed out in pride despite the bandage over his eye, thanks to Astrid.

His inner 10-year-old self snickered immaturely in the back of his mind.

Hiccup reasons he should compliment her work when they get to talk again.

•••

Snotlout's ride pulled up in a fancy Mercedes car. With one last sneer towards Hiccup, Snotlout strutted towards it.

And then he was gone.

Astrid pretended to watch the cars coming by for hers. She knew her mom wasn't coming, because they didn't have a car and her mom was definitely not walking all the way over here when she knew Astrid can walk herself home perfectly fine.

Of course, the principal wanted to watch them go straight home, straight to whatever lecture their parents had for them.

_Excluding Hiccup, _she assumes, only because she knew that he knew Hiccup didn't do anything wrong.

He was finally gone now, leaving Astrid and Hiccup alone on the sidewalk.

•••

"Is your dad coming?"

Hiccup sighed. He wasn't sure. He was sure, though, that his dad was working.

And you don't disturb Stoick The Vast to go get his troublemaking son from school.

_Screw what the principal said to him, it's been so long since then. _

At least it felt like a long time.

"I really don't know," Hiccup replied, glancing at the girl,"I'm going to call him now."

Astrid nodded, seeming lost.

Hiccup pulled his phone from his back pocket and tapped his father's contact.

"Someone coming for you?"

Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes with bittersweet sarcasm.

"My mom probably told the principal she was. But I know better."

Hiccup raised his phone to his ear hesitantly. He didn't know how to respond to that.

"... W-what about your dad?"

Silence.

Except for the monotonous _Riii-ng, Riii-ng, Riii-ng... _in his ear.

Then, that all too familar tone of a heartless mechanical voice informing him of the obvious.

_You have not reached 1-646-975-3174. Leave a message at the sound. _

Hiccup sighed.

Of course.

He hung up, knowing it was no use to leave a message.

Astrid kicked a stone that laid on the ground.

"Left us couple of years ago. He just," Astrid turned her head away from Hiccup and forced a bitter laugh,"left one night. Didn't look back."

And then she added under her breath,"Bastard."

Hiccup didn't know how to respond to that.

"I'm really... sorry. That's... really awful."

He shifted his position and stuck his phone back in his pocket awkwardly.

"It's okay. I grew up a long time ago, I'm over it. Thing is," Astrid faced him,"My mom didn't."

Ah. That explained why her mom wouldn't be coming.

Hiccup grew uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to react. He wasn't good at social interaction and expressing his feelings.

He sympathized with her, because it was something awful to go through, but it was why she is the way she is- strong, cynical, and focused.

But he had a hunch that if he voiced these thoughts, he would find a fist in his jaw.

•••

Why did she just say that?

Astrid never told anyone that. She never trusted anyone.

But she barely knew him, and here she was, blabbering her life problems like a whiny baby.

He was just so easy to talk to.

Astrid abruptly changed the subject.

"So... looks like you're walking home too?"

Hiccup glanced at his feet, then at her again, before replying "Yeah."

Astrid eased off the wall she was leaning on and grabbed her backpack, motioning that they would walk together.

Hiccup mumbled behind her,"My house is, uh-"

Astrid cut him off with a look.

"It's the biggest house that sits one block away from mine. Let's go."

Did he forget his dad is the mayor?

She whipped around and set a brisk pace, just to find Hiccup scrambling to keep up with her.

He was such a... fishbone.

•••

Hiccup never knew Astrid lived a block away from him.

Of course, there was the fact that he wasn't social and didn't get out of the house except for school.

The first block was silent, except for the quiet rustling of leaves being crushed and the wind howling.

"It-it's really cold," He commented lamely, sticking his hands in his pocket.

_I sound so desperate for conversation, _Hiccup internally groaned.

Truth is, he was. He wanted to thank her for how she stood up for him, but he didn't know how to without sounding awkward and stupid.

"Yeah, it's not much of the actual temperature," Astrid glanced at him,"it's really just the wind."

"Yeah." He agreed quietly, ending their conversation. (Did that even count?)

_Okay, Hiccup, move your lazy butt and say something! Geez, just say thanks! You always make things a big deal. She's just a girl. _

_Yeah, _Hiccup rolled his eyes at himself, _she's not 'just a girl', she's Astrid Hofferson. My life long crush, remember?_

"Uh, um, just wanna, uh, sa-say that, uh, th-than-"

"Gods, Hiccup! Can you speak a sentence without mumbling or stuttering?" Astrid glared at him and forcefully stared straight ahead before purposely quickening her pace.

He blew it. Of course. Leave to him to fail at accomplishing the simple.

•••

It hit her in the middle of his sentence.

Astrid _liked _when he stuttered. It was cute, adorbable actually, he always looked sort of scared of her, like a little kid.

_What?!_

Astrid mentally swerved off the road.

So then she snapped at him and pretended he didn't exist.

She couldn't do this anymore. Astrid had to forget _him_, ignore _him_, pretend everything that involved _him_ didn't happen.

Astrid muttered a "Bye." when they reached her house, leaving him standing and waving awkwardly on the sidewalk.

She walked right in her house and didn't look back at him.

If only Astrid would've known then that forgetting that awkward boy would be impossible.

**_Author's Note_**

_Sorry for the long wait. Had a bit of writer's block. Remember to leave a review telling me what you think! I want to know how I'm doing. Criticism is greatly appreciated! :D_

_Next chapter coming possibly next week, depending on how good I do. _

_See you then! _


	7. Astrid Doesn't Like Puns

**_Author's Note_**

_Can't believe it's Chapter 7. It was just yesterday that I was writing Chapter 1. Wow. _

_Sorry for the long wait! I had to take a break from writing because when I started, it felt forced and just ugh. So I took a break and came back to it and now it's done! This is actually longer than my usual length, but that's good, right? Haha. _

_Keep in mind that Scott is Snotlout's real name. So, Stoick would call him Scott and Hiccup would usually call him Snotlout. You know, teenagers and their strange nicknames. :D_

_Here we go! Hope you enjoy it!_

Hiccup set his backpack down next to the door and checked his phone for the time. He had a couple of hours until his dad came home.

Sighing, he realized he honestly didn't understand why Astrid had gotten annoyed so easily when he had stuttered in front of her plenty of times before.

_Girls, _Hiccup rolled his eyes.

It was a long day, and he was _really _tired. Thinking would just make it worse.

Hiccup trudged up the stairs with a very heavy backpack just to be greeted by a whiny cat at the top.

"Not now, Toothless." He breathed dramatically.

Toothless persisted and clung onto Hiccup's prosthesis. Hiccup rolled his eyes and decided to act like the cat didn't exist, so he dragged his leg along while lugging around his backpack.

_Useless mammal._

He arranged his stuff around his desk and plopped down on the chair and sighed, glancing at all the homework he had yet to do. Toothless didn't budge and didn't look like he would in the near future. Sometimes he didn't understand why he got that cat anyway.

Hiccup glanced at the rest of his room and decided he needed better organization skills. Everything from clothles he was too lazy to stuff in his drawer to tin foil creations to doodles of dragons covered his room. His bed didn't even look like a bed anymore. He couldn't believe he slept under all that at night.

Hiccup wondered if he should just go clean up his pathetic excuse for a room, but then his cat decided that Hiccup's attention should be on him. Toothless climbed onto Hiccup's lap, snuggling into his shirt, gazing up at him with huge green eyes.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, questioning the cat's intentions, but he had to admit Toothless did make him feel better.

Even if he was annoying.

x

Astrid had promised herself she wouldn't think about him or interact with him again, unless she had to.

And knowing she had been working on just one problem for the last hour without getting anywhere, she figured she couldn't do it.

Astrid adjusted her position on the chair, resting her head against her hand.

As much as it pained her to realize it, she needed help. Astrid was always independent, and she hated depending on someone (especially someone she was trying to avoid) for something.

Her house was dead silent, since she was the only one home. Her mom had finally decided to get out of the house, but hadn't bothered to tell Astrid where she was going or when she was coming back.

It's not like Astrid cared anyway.

Glaring at the paper one last time, she leaned over the table to where her phone was lying.

She had asked for his number at the end of the first tutoring session. It was implusive, she didn't even think about it. It kind of made sense to have his number.

Right now, she was glad she did. Otherwise she'd have to resort to Google, which never explained anything well enough.

After typing his number in, she wrote:

_Hey, it's Astrid. I'm having trouble with #13 on the homework. Help? _

She debated if she should write "Thanks." at the end, but then decided against it.

Astrid sighed and set his phone on ringer so she would know if he answered. And he better.

x

"Wait, so Scott was hurting you?"

Hiccup waved his hands around annoyedly. Was his dad really this dense?

"Yes, dad," He sighed, "Scott was bullying me just like he did in middle school. Did you think he would suddenly stop?"

Stoick finished his dinner. He knew Scott was a tough boy and had pushed Hiccup around when he was small, but bullying?

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Hiccup gave his father a look.

"What does it look like I'm doing right now?"

Stoick gave one back and replied,"You know what I mean. You never told me he actually beat you up."

Hiccup was at a loss of words. Why didn't he ever say one night "Hey dad, your nephew beat me up today?"

How does he explain this?

"Well... we don't really talk a lot, I assumed it wasn't important," Hiccup avoided eye contact and looked down, "And I thought you wouldn't really care."

Stoick shook his head.

"Hiccup, you know I care. You know I love you."

Hiccup gave a lopsided smile. "I know."

None of them said anything but they were both thinking the same thing. The two of them were just too different. They couldn't communicate properly.

"Well, you better be off to bed. I'll talk to my brother about it."

Hiccup widened his eyes. "N-no, don't, he'll talk to Snotl-," He stopped himself, "Scott and then he'll never let me hear the end of it. I can deal with him."

Stoick got up from his seat and walked around the table to set a hand on his shoulder, oblivious to the fact he almost sent him flying off his seat.

"Glad to see that you're growing up. Goodnight, son."

And with that, Stoick was gone, leaving Hiccup alone to put everything in the dishwasher. (They alternated every night.)

Hiccup had mentioned that Astrid had beaten up Snotlout to defend him, but his father did not comment on her except to nod with approval with a "Smart girl, that one."

Yay. His crush was father-approved.

It was too early (Well, in Hiccup's opinion) to go to bed, so he yanked his phone off the charger and decided to waste time playing some game.

Surprisingly, he had a notification.

He had gotten a text from some random number. Nobody ever texted him. The only people he ever talked to over his phone was Fishlegs and his father.

He opened Messages and was surprised to see, _Hey, it's Astrid. I'm having trouble with #13 on the homework. Help? _

Astrid?

The Astrid Hofferson... texted him?!

_Now don't overthink it, _He told himself, _she just wants help with math. _

But his brain was just, _OMG ASTRID HOFFERSON- THE ASTRID HOFFERSON, YOU KNOW THAT GIRL YOU LIKE A LOT- TEXTED YOU FIRST VOLUNTARILY ASDFJKJENWNSK THIS ISN'T REAL KAKSHWHS WHAT IS HAPPENIN-_

Now. No need to panic, it's just math.

He should text her back. Astrid sent it over an hour ago. He could already see her eyes boring into his because he didn't answer.

Suddenly, he began to feel nervous.

What if he messed up?

Is it possible to make a fool out of yourself in the virtual world?

_Well, _Hiccup thought grudgingly, _If there wasn't a way, I would be the one to create it. _

He wandered upstairs and closed his bedroom door, nudging away an annoying Toothless.

He took out his math folder and studied number 13.

_Hi Astrid!_

No. That sounded so... cheerful and friendly. And like he was a elementary school wannabe.

_Hi Astrid._

Hiccup shook his head. Too serious and business-like.

_Keep the introduction light and go straight to the math, _he advised himself.

_Hey._

_Hi!_

_Hey Astrid. _

_Hey Astrid!_

_Hi Astrid!_

_Hello!_

_Hello._

_Hello Astrid,_

_Hello Astrid!_

Hiccup couldn't believe how pathetic he is. He couldn't even get one sentence out.

After staring at the blinking hyphen for 3 minutes in hopes he could come up with something less lame, he settled for this because it matched her tone:

_Hey Astrid, this is how I did #3._

Then he sent a picture of his work.

Sighing, he put aside his phone and double checked his answer, just in case he messed up and made Astrid mess up too.

5 minutes later, he got:

_Thanks. _

Wow. Talk about heartlessly formal. She must be mad at him or something.

This is every boy's dream. Texting Astrid Hofferson. Even though it's a pathetic excuse for a conversation, he attempts to save it.

_Anything else I could help you with? _

He was tempted to add "m'lady" at the end with the winky emoji, but something told him he shouldn't use his pathetic flirting techniques with Astrid.

Then he got back, _Not really. I kind of got everything else except for that one. _

Improvement. She wasn't replying with one word answers, which is a good thing. He could actually go somewhere from here.

_Ah. I guess you can't get a worse combination than the unlucky #13 and math. Glad I was there to help ya sum it up :D_

Okay, not his best math pun, but hopefully she will pick up on it.

He got back: _You did not. _

Hiccup grinned. There we go.

_Yes I did. XD You know, I used to hate math too but then I realized decimals have a point. _

He could always depend on his buddy, puns, to lighten a conversation.

Hiccup got back, _I'm done with you (and math), _followed by a bunch of laughing emojis.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile.

x

_H: But I'm not done yet! There's still so many problems to work out!_

Astrid bit back a laugh. She didn't know what a nerd he could be. She was about to respond when he sent: _There's so many that I've lost count. :D_

Astrid held a hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. He must think he's so funny.

_You're really not funny, you know. _

A minute hadn't even passed before she received, _I'm sorry. The concept of laughter is 4n to me. _

Astrid didn't bother holding back a laugh before typing, _Do you even speak English? I swear puns must be your first lauguage, _with a laughing emoji.

Astrid set her phone aside and climbed into bed. Earlier that day, she had just wanted to ignore him, and now she was anticipating his next text message.

_Ding! _

Astrid reached over for phone and found, _I know I have a problem. :D _

Grinning in agreement, she wrote back, _Is it humanly possible for you to run out of puns?_

x

_H: They just multiply and after a while, I loose count. _

Hiccup was on a roll tonight. He has finally found someone who has an appreciation for puns!

_A: Puns like that are the reason why I hate math so much._

Okay, scratch that. Maybe she doesn't like puns. But if she really didn't, she wouldn't be responding. Despite that, Hiccup needed a really good one.

So, she said she hates math, he could use that...

_H: Now that you've mentioned that your problem with math, I have a solution: Wear glasses, they help with your di-vision._

YES! Perfect. Two puns in one shot, that's perfect. It's that kind that makes you want to drive your head into a wall, but in the meantime you're laughing that same head off. Love/hate relationship, you know?

Toothless meowed and Hiccup took it as agreement. He could always depend on Toothless. Which is sort of sad, because Toothless is a cat.

_A: Okay I have to admit, that one was good :D_

Nailed it.

He couldn't really think of another pun to answer, so he just sent the tongue-sticking out emoji.

_A: Oh, no pun this time? Thank gods._

_H: You know that could change at any given time. My replies are variable. _

Grinning at her obvious annoyance, he got back:

_A: I really had some sort of hope for you and then you just ruined it. _

_H: Whoops, I'm so sorry. I tend to screw up a lot. You know, I got kicked out of math class once because I had too many infractions. _

_A: I'm going to ignore the pun and address the fact that I'm in the same math class as you and I have never seen you disobey the teacher or get kicked out. _

_H: So I've been caught lying. _

_A: Shame on you. :P_

_H: I should totally go for the whole bad-boy thing. _

_A: You shouldn't. You would fall on your face before you even broke one rule._

_H: Can't say I've heard a more true statement. Snotlout used to call me Hiccup The Clumsy before he upgraded to Hiccup The Useless. _

_A: Don't even mention him. He's at the top of my hit list. _

Astrid was finally displaying signs of humor! (... and violence. Not good.)

_H: As you had demostrated today... I never got to thank you so yeah, thanks. _

He hated to ruin the whole conversation with something genuine but they were on the topic and if he didn't say it now, he would probably never say it.

He glanced at the clock. 11:06. How had the time passed so quickly?

_A: No problem. He's annoying as hell and probably the worst jerk face I've ever seen. I'm so happy he got a month of detentions._

_H: Couldn't agree with you more. We can bond over this mutual dislike. Anyway, where am I on this infamous list of yours?_

_A: Number two :)_

How dare she add a smiley face.

_H: WHAT? Okay, so am I surviving the night? Please? _

_A: If you actually know me, you know that you don't stand a chance at life..._

_H: I don't doubt that for a second. What did I do that brought me so close to the top?_

_A: You like puns. Unforgivable. XD_

Ah. He knew those puns would come back to bite him in the butt.

**_Author's Note_**

_Okay, some of these puns were lame, but this is Hiccup we're talking about. (You know, the adorable dork :P) I came up with all of them, but only after I surfed the Internet for inspiration. So I won't take all the credit but I do get some. So yeah. :D Tell me what you think in the reviews! _

_Now that I've mentioned reviews, I want to thank and give a huge hug to everyone who reads and reviews! Thank you for your support. :) It motivates me to write new chapters. _

_TO ALL OF YOU PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE APP "RISE OF BERK": Have you seen the Valentine's Day update!? Hiccstrid feels! The loading screen and the app picture itself are absolutely adorable. Hiccstrid week! :D_

_My author's notes are always so long. Whatever. :) Thank you for reading! Drop a review before you go, it means a lot to me! See you next time! _


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